Dead battery after only 1.5 hours

chvybeatsford · November 17, 2016

Ok. So truck. 2015 gmc all terrain 5.3 with 7500 miles.

Haven't had truck but maybe 150 miles. Trailer warning came on about two weeks ago and dealer said they fix. Well yesterday the wife drove to work. Then bank then truck say for about a hour before lunch. Went to crank and had no power at all. I'm working out of town so a buddy goes and tried to jump it off. Well that works sorda. After all types of warnings on dash and truck dying after wife tried to pull out parking lot jump again and barley got it to dealer ship. During this when it died on wife starting locked up tight. Also while buddy drove it to dealer he had a tight starting and multiple warnings on dash about trailer lights ..

Now dealer says it's comming for the power steering to cause this as its electric. And something about won't work under 12v.. but my thinking is that I'd still have lights and all and accessories on before trying to crank. But no. Nothing.

Just asking if anyone herd of this or seen this before. This truck has had all kinds of issue since day one almost a month ago and reason why it only got maybe 150 miles put on since I owned .

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revrnd · November 18, 2016

The battery in my '11 didn't last 4 years (2 & a half I think). I've never had a battery die that soon in over 30 years of owning new trucks.

Anecdotally, I have heard the quality of the AC batteries has gone downhill since GM sold their battery business to Johnson Controls.

Colossus · November 18, 2016

Battery woes are an industry norm now a days, it's not limited to one brand/manufacturer. Back in the day it was not unheard of to get 7+ years out of a battery in the right climate conditions. Now a days you're lucky to get 3 years. Some of it is due to new EPA & manufacturing standards which means not using as much of or a different type of material vs what was used in the past, but a bigger part has to do with the demand placed on batteries on modern vehicles. You've got a ton of power draw on the batteries with onboard computers, headlights that are on all the time (DRL) electronics and goodies that people put into their vehicle, and so on. The draw on the batteries is pretty impressive. Also people forget that the alternator is NOT a battery charger, that is not it's purpose. Instead it is a maintainer, meaning it's trying to maintain enough juice to compensate for what is being drawn.

Now, with that being said, people will say: "Oh yeah! My Odyssey or Optima or Interstate battery is quite a hoot! Best thing since sliced bread, I tell ya!" But in reality, it's just another glorified battery that someone threw $300+ of their own money at and it makes em feel good for 3 or 4 years, then they are off to the next neat fancy thing that is out there. Just get a battery that is rated for your vehicle, throw it in there, keep it in good shape as in clean terminals and not letting the charge drop significantly in the thing, and call it good.